Public tours of the Vehicle Assembly Building will end Feb. 23 Feb. 11, officials of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex announced Tuesday.

The attraction's VAB Up-Close Tour began in late 2011. The structure, touted as one of the largest buildings in the world, had been off-limits since 1978. The VAB, identifiable by the gigantic American flag and NASA logo on its side, is where space vehicles, including the fleet of space shuttles, were assembled for launch.

The tours are being halted because the building will be undergoing modifications for the space center to become a multiuser Spaceport and in preparation for the Space Launch System.

From the beginning, the tour was considered temporary.

"We knew that the day would come when preparations for the SLS would take precedent,” said Therrin Protze, chief operating officer for the visitor complex. “Kennedy Space Center is an operating space program facility, and preparations for the next chapter in space exploration are the utmost priority, and we are very excited about the future.”

Two other tours, which take visitors to Launch Pad 39-A and the Launch Control Center, will continue for now, but the KSC Mega-Tour, which combines all three destinations, will also be suspended.

VAB Up-Close Tour tickets sell for $75, which includes admission to the visitor complex. Guests between the ages of 3 and 11 pay $59.

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